Instructions: Olive Oil Good for the Colon
The Mediterranean diet staple olive oil has been praised for its heart-healthy benefits. Now researchers suggest olive oil also may lower the risk of colon cancer. and its not just any plant-based oil that appears to have this effect; its specific to olive oil. Researchers at the University Hospital Germans Trias Pujol in Barcelona, Spain, found that rats fed a diet supplemented with olive oil had a much lower rate of colon cancer than rats fed safflower oil. In fact, researchers found olive oil produced the same anti-cancer effects in the colon as fish oil, shown in many studies to be very protective against cancer.

The findings are based on 108 rats divided into three groups, with each group fed a diet in which 5 percent of food contained olive oil, safflower oil or fish oil. The animals also were injected with a cancer-causing agent. After 12 weeks and 19 weeks, the rats colons were studied for possible tumors. Cancer was found in 85 percent of the safflower oil-fed rats, but only 58 percent of the olive oil-fed rats and 45 percent of the fish oil-fed rats. Researchers say that olive oil and fish oil reduced levels of a cancer-causing substance called arachidonate. Cancer is a result of cells growing uncontrollably, and fish oil has been shown to slow rectal cell division. Researchers suspect olive oil may be able to do the same.

The study, published in the January issue of Gut, highlights another reason to follow the Mediterranean diet. Numerous studies already have established that olive oil reduces cholesterol levels and is becoming known as a good fat for the body.

Daily Briefings by Katrina Woznicki

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